Playing the Playboys

Chapter 30: The Car

Girls like you
Love fun, yeah me too
What I want when I come through
I need a girl like you

The sound of the door slamming woke me up with a start, along with sound of muffled yelling.

I sighed and checked the time. It was seven minutes before I had to wake up, and because of my stupid parents fighting again, I lost that seven minute sleep.

My eyes trailed over at the tapestry Zachary and I did that hung on my ceiling, admiring the bright, yellow sunflowers when a knock broke me out of my trance.

"Come in," I yelled out lazily.

Karl opened my door, two cups of coffee in both of his hands. After closing the door behind him, he placed my coffee on my bed side table and sat on my bean bag, sipping on his.

He stared at my messy rug by his feet in disgust. "I don't know why you keep that, it's ugly."

I shrugged, sitting up again to look at the mistake Zachary and I did. "It brings back good memories."

"Maybe I'll just give you a new rug for Christmas. It's only a few weeks away."

"And I'll give you a new attitude, because you're in dire need of one," I retorted.

He rolled his eyes and sipped on his coffee again, scrolling through his phone. I stared at my baby brother for a while, studying the bags under his eyes and tear stains on his cheeks.

Since Grams passed away, which was a month ago, Mom and Dad had been fighting. Mom hadn't been going out of her room, let alone working, and Dad had been taking overtimes to keep us fed. Dad tried to be understanding, but as time passed by, he only grew tired. When Dad asked Mom if she'd go to work, she shunned him out and exploded on him, so Dad exploded on her too.

Their fights had been taking a toll on us too. They fought at night, when they thought we were asleep. Little did they know their scream fest woke us up at night. Even though Karl was fourteen years old, he snuck up to my room on those days and slept with me and when he didn't, he'd spend the whole morning in my room, just like what he was doing now.

"Would you stop staring at me?" he demanded, shaking me out of my thoughts. "You're being creepy."

"You're creepy," I tutted, sipping my coffee. "I'm not the one looking at almost naked models through my Instagram feed."

His cheeks flushed as he exited the app immediately. "Shut up," he muttered, standing up. "I'm getting ready."

I chuckled as he stomped away from my room, shaking my head. I wished he wouldn't grow up. I liked the way he was now despite me acting like he was annoying all the time.

After getting ready for school and ignoring the tantrums my parents were throwing, Karl and I headed to Ryder's G-Wagen, who was already outside our house waiting for us.

"Karl, my man," he greeted my little brother with a fist bump before kissing me on the cheek. "Sweetheart."

Since Brett was in town and all, he was the one who drove Selena to school. Ryder had been driving Karl and I to school since then, saying that he wanted to keep an eye on me, so he ditched his two-seaters and drove us with this G-Wagen.

Needless to say, I was a bit flattered by that.

"Can I drive this time?" Karl asked hopefully, just like he did everyday.

Ryder looked at him through the rearview mirror before speeding off. "Not today, little man."

He pouted but stayed contented in the backseat of Ryder's expensive car, taking pictures of himself in it.